The Chronicle
Latest dispatches
34 results across all types
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Famille Quiot, Southern France
Accompanying this article is a small portfolio tasting of the wines from Famille Quiot, a family that lays claim to a winemaking history since the mid-18th century. I say ‘small’ as the parent company seems to have more than a dozen individual wineries and brands residing under it. The key item uniting all of them however is that they’re firmly Southern Rhône in origin. For example, there are at least six different Provençal-style rosés, of which I tasted half of them and yes, there is indeed a difference between them […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
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Famille Quiot Portfolio 2026
This is a current selection of the Famille Quiot wines tasted on 22 June 2026. For full access, please purchase a Personal Subscription or Commercial Subscription.
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Hispano Suizas, València, Spain
Here’s a refreshed look at Hispano Suizas that picks up on the new vintages since the previous tasting. Overall the wines are showing quite well, even varieties such as Pinot Noir and Sauvingon Blanc which generally suffer in Spain. But, at the altitudes they have for their vineyards, these are hanging in there and producing reliable wines. The wines of true note this time around were the sparklings produced under DO Cava and the ‘Vintage’ was a truly excellent wine. Although at 50€ plus retail, one would indeed expect quite […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
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Viña Salceda Entresierras, Rioja
While I’ve previously reviewed the wines of Viña Salceda here, when it comes to their white offer, to date it’s only been the more general ‘Blanco’. This bottle of Entresierras shifts things up a great deal. For starters, the blend is quite wild as while there’s the typical base of Viura/Macabeu and the now, more-typical Tempranillo Blanco, it also tosses in the rarer Calagraño, Malvasia Rioja/Alarije and then the red, Graciano of all things. I can solidly state that I’ve never encountered a blend anywhere near similar to this for […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
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Dominio de Tares – Cepas Viejas Godello 2025
The grape variety of Godello is no stranger to these pages and for good reason as it is, astounding. There is only thing that astounds me more than wines of this grape and that’s how they’re not more popular than they are. It’s relatively easy to pronounce Castilian, you can make puns of the ‘god’ part or just the ‘go’. While there were many hot takes on how it ‘should’ be in the past, it’s coming around to really only have one singular face to it of saline, citric excellence. […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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ASI Vote on the return of Russian sommeliers raises questions
In late May, the ASI General Assembly was held in Taipei, Taiwan. Among the organizational issues discussed by the presidents of the national associations belonging to ASI, a motion to reinstate Russian sommeliers was unexpectedly put to a vote. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ASI had not issued any official statements regarding the status of the Russian association, and only in response to a media inquiry did it state that RAS is on hold. Now, in May, the ASI board proposed not to reinstate the entire association’s membership, but merely to allow Russian members to the next competition for the title of Europe’s Best Sommelier. This point was not listed on the agenda in advance and came as a surprise to many of the participants. Twenty-four members voted against, 16 in favor, and 8 abstained. As a result, the suspension of Russian sommeliers was extended at least until the next…
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Alba en Ribera, Ribera del Duero
These are part of a new project called, Alba en Ribera in DO Ribera del Duero. Both of the wines present a lighter take on the more typical heavier-bodied wines found in the region which makes them drift a touch more towards Rioja stylistically, although with plenty of dark fruit notes to state firmly that they are indeed Ribera wines. From the village of Olmedillo, the vineyards are all higher-altitude plantings starting at 825m and going up from there. From the start everything has been farmed organically, but don’t be […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
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The un-Cava, Cava
As shown in the report on the Corpinnat sparkling wines, there’s no debate as to the solid momentum behind this association. What started as a group of six ‘rogue’ high-quality sparkling winemakers abandoning the Denomination of Origin Cava has turned into a serious bubbly force to be reckoned with. I feel like the larger question being asked now isn’t, “Why would someone leave DO Cava?” and much more, “Why wouldn’t someone join Corpinnat?” While it may seem a rather obvious direction to take, there are vast and varied barriers to […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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Attis – Albariño 2025
It’s ironic to think that in our current age of wine that there are so many producers who want to “stick it to the man” and ditch their regional organizations in Europe. Clearly, there were sound reasons when it came to everyone of higher quality leaving Cava. And Collioure-Banyuls breaking off from Roussillon also made sense. But beyond these few, rational examples of groups, there remain a good number of individual producers who often say, “screw it” and go it alone. Artadi in Rioja comes immediately to mind as they […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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A wine of straw
In the world of fashion, there’s the premise that all styles come back around, something like every 20 years. This happens to be extremely good news as the skinny jean fad was killing me and I’ve been waiting to buy new “baggy” jeans for what seems like time inmemorable. I have the distinct impression the world of fashion doesn’t apply when it comes to wines and more specifically when talking about sweet, dessert wines. The zenith would probably be during the Goût Russe Champagne period which saw this treacly sparkling […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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The wines of Corpinnat 2026
At this moment in 2026, the Corpinnat sparkling wine association has taken what is perhaps its most crucial leap since being founded in 2015. Accompanying this report is the large Tasting Report which is by far the most extensive to date in terms of the number of wines reviewed with 18 of the 22 member wineries having submitted samples. The reasons for the quantity are obvious as they’ve now arrived to 22 members; an impressive increase from the six that originally broke from DO Cava back in 2019 and there […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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Corpinnat 2026
All of these wines were tasting on April 27, 2026 at AT Roca in Penedès. Wines were ordered by vintage and tasted in non-blind conditions. For more details please see the Regional Report. For full access, please purchase a Personal Subscription or Commercial Subscription.
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The real Isabel Ferrando
There exist several wine brands which have taken on the names of historic women and in the process, grown to rather mythic status with time. Perhaps the most famous is Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin aka Veuve Clicquot. She definitely deserves a far better and more accurate film of her life someday, but her name (or at least the widowed version of it) graces one of the most iconic Champagnes there is. Then, at the other end of the spectrum there’s Anna de Codorníu from the Cava ‘Jumbotron’, Codorníu and is, a ‘different’ […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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The last freakin’ article on the Judgment of Paris (again)
So, it's the 50th anniversary of the Judgment of Paris today. For those who don't know of it, but still drink wine, this probably means that you're a GenXer or younger as even the oldest of us couldn't legally drink when this tasting event came to pass that supposedly put California on the map and gave the French a spanking. Please do read the Wikipedia article above and it lays out all the 'shocking' details of it. When I mentioned the 40th anniversary back in 2016, I feel there was a lot more 'huzzah' about it. The main reason being that a lot of those who participated were still alive and everyone wanted to undoubtedly celebrate it while the livin' was still good. Indeed, most everyone who was key to the event has now left us for the open bar in the sky. The biggie in that group was Steven…
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Cave des Vins de Sancerre – Les Chaillots 2024
I’m firmly of the opinion there are more Mormon Missionaries who have seen the inside of a stripclub than I have. I say that as in my three decades of strip club entrance ‘opportunity’, I’ve been into a total of one. Growing in up in the US and hearing Al Bundy on Married with Children talk up the “Nudie Bars”, I was, like many, raised on the premise that these bastions of female objectivization were something all true red-blooded males would surely enjoy. Yet, despite this, my sole experience left […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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Looking back at Priorat 2021
It’s hard to imagine, but the Northern Hemisphere’s harvest of 2021 was nearly half a decade ago now. Yeah, I know. Clearly, the quantity of water that flowed under the figurative bridge since then has been, immeasurable… But due to all the world events and torrent of information thrown our way, it’s easy to miss things that are, for most people, not terribly important, such as the various vintages passing in wine regions. And given a justifiably-limited amount of attention span, I feel that there are only a few ‘bookmark’ […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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The wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape & Gigondas 2026
In the middle of April, I made my way up to the Southern Rhône for the annual reports of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Gigondas; two of the leading regions overall for this very beautiful portion of France. I won’t mince my words, the arrival was rather grim as while going a month later made for much better weather, it also allowed to see the harsh reality that is the changing face of wine consumption. There were countless vineyards that hadn’t been pruned, which, at this point in the spring means that they’re […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2026
All of these wines were tasted during 15-17 April, 2026 with a mix of a large scale tasting at the offices of the CdP Syndicat and in situ tastings at the wineries. The larger tasting was group by color and year. None of the wines were tasted blind. Please see the Regional Report for more information. For full access, please purchase a Personal Subscription or Commercial Subscription.
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AOC Gigondas 2026
All of these wines were tasted during 13-14 April, 2025 via a large scale tasting at the offices of the Gigondas Syndicat and in situ lunch tastings with winemakers. The larger tasting was group by color and year, those at wineries were not. Please see the Regional Report for more information. For full access, please purchase a Personal Subscription or Commercial Subscription.
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The Featured Croatian Wines of 2026
It was easily shown in the general Croatia and Dalmacija Reports that there’s a great deal happening in this corner of Southern Europe. While Croatia isn’t enormous in terms of wine production, there were nearly 350 wines in those two reports, so it’s worth looking at a smaller, Featured Selection that’s just 5% of the larger total, but which are wines that sum up the general scope of excellence being produced currently. The following are not in any kind of ranking, but are listed in alphabetical order as per the […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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Featured Selection Croatia 2026
The following are a refined selection of wines from the larger Croatia and Dalmacija Reports from 2026. For full access, please purchase a Personal Subscription or Commercial Subscription.
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Familia Torres Pirene, Costers del Segre
This is an interesting wine of note from Torres as it’s from the larger Costers del Segre Tasting Report but was tasted after the fact. It’s noteworthy as, unless one is very deep into the wine trade, you’ll probably never have heard of the grape variety, Pirene. It’s part of the variety recuperation program that the family started over 40 years ago to find seemingly ‘lost’ varieties across Catalunya. The reason behind this was and continues to be in order to find different varieties for use in a changing climate. […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .
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Revisiting the Movia Vinoteka in Ljubljana, Slovenia
I first visited the Movia Vinoteka about 20 years ago. I went back one or two more times, until I didn’t. It wasn’t due to the location as you simply can’t be more central than having your establishment next to the town hall of Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana in the very pretty Old Town quarter of the city. Nor did I not return for the interior with its just-enough darkness, wood surfaces, and metal accents that keep it modern but friendly and at no point does it go off the rails […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription.
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Les Freses, Alicante, Spain
Let’s have a new look at this project in Alicante called, Les Freses that’s in a small area call, Jesús Pobre. I reviewed a selection of these wines last year, which were dominated by the wines from 2023 and 2024. This time around al of the white wines are from 2025 with the two reds from 2024. This, has made a great deal of difference as I feel the overall quality fo the wines is up a great deal over the previous tasting. I’m not sure if this is just […] For full access, please log in or purchase a subscription .